This blog is a forum for Mentor High School Honors English 12 students to engage in book discussions based on free reading books.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson is a Swedish crime novel that reached #1 on the New York Bestsellers List. It tells the story of Mikael Blomkvist a reporter and part owner of a magazine called Millennium who was falsely accused of libel. The lawsuit causes financial problems and threatens the success of Millennium. Mikael is unable to refuse the money when he is approached by an aging aristocrat Henrik Vanger to investigate the 40 year old murder of his niece Harriet under the pretense of writing Vanger's biography. Harriet Vanger was 16 when she disappeared off the the family's private island. Henrik had poured thousands of dollars into a thorough investigation but the case eventually went cold. The murder still haunts him 40 years later. Mikael is aided in his investigation of the case by a tattooed punk named Lisbeth Salander. Together they uncover the dark history of the Vanger family and expose astonishing corruption.

1. There are many dark secrets hidden in the Vanger family, all of which have been covered up. If you found out a secret about someone in your family would you expose them? Or would you keep it covered up in order to save face?

2. Harriet and her brother Martin had an abusive father. Harriet turned out completely normal, while Martin followed in his father footsteps. Do you think that children that come from abusive households are more likely to carry those negative traits into adulthood?

12 comments:

1.) I would conceal it, but not to save face, just to keep their personal info to themselves, it's no one elses business.2.) Yes, I think children from those kinds of households are more likely because they are unaware of what they are supposed to be like.

2. I believe that coming from an abusive past will increase the chances of the child repeating the cycle. However, I do not believe that coming from abuse immediately decides for a person to become abusive. I think that part of the abusive factor comes from who you are as a person, and the choices that you make. But at the same time, I feel that abusive pasts can help push one towards a life of violence.

1. I would probably find out who in my family knew the secret and go from there. If many people know, it isn't really a secret and I don't think it would matter much who finds out, outside the family. Also, I don't think you should keep secrets just to keep up appearances. I feel like that wouldn't be healthy and would cause further strain.

2. I think that it depends on the child. If they were affected very deeply and realized early on that abuse isn't normal, they'll be good loving parents. But if they don't, the i think they'd end up being abusive because that's how they were raised.

To answer question 2, I believe that whether or not a child that comes from an abusive famiy will show those same characteristics in the future depends on the beliefs and personality of the child. If the child realizes that what they're parents are doing to them is negative or harmful to them, then maybe they'll realize this is wrong and learn that they need to change and be a good loving parent to their future children and family, unlike the way they're parents treated them in their childhood.

I agree that children that grow up in that kinda environment are more likely to become abusive themselves. But as you also said, that does alway happen. It depends on how people view their situation. If they realize it isn't healthy they can often learn from their parents mistakes. Lisbeth also encountered abuse in the story but she didn't let it negatively affect her.

If I found out a secret about someone in my family, I would expose them only if it was a secret that held the potential to be harmful to either themselves or someone else. I think some secrets are meant to be kept and not everything is meant to be known everyone else. If people's heart and lives were completely transparent, the world would be a miserable mess.

Secondly, I think the children of abusive families are prone to turn out with both negative and positive qualities. More often than not, the children will follow the only patterns and habits they've ever known, which DOES result in youngsters who show signs of becoming an abusive adult. However, I also believe that children can walk out of their dark past with a vast love and adoration for people. For these luckly few, growing up in an abusive household has presented them with an ability to look beyond their broken past and begin to heal both themselves and others.

I would definitely reveal a family secret if it was something that was dark. Some secrets are meant to be kept because they are personal, but when someone has a secret that affects other people, I would tell. Most secrets like that are found out at some point any way, so if you knew the whole time and didn't tell it will reflect negatively on you. Saving face does not matter anywhere near as much as the truth.

1) I think that I would feel obligated to say something if the one who did the crime was still alive and could be punished for it. If the family member was dead,I would feel less obligated to tell people about it, because there really isn't anything that could be done about it now.

1. I would also see who knew the secret in order to see what to do next. I think it depends on secret and the circumstances around it if one should expose it or not. I agree with Katherine saying if the family member were dead than i would feel less pressure to do something about it, versus if they were still alive.

Honestly I would probably save face, unless it was something really really important. I really believe in loyalty especially in a family, so sometimes I think it's better to just leave people to their own consequences. Also, I think that when people grow up in abusive homes they are either more or less likely to carry those traits with them. They can either be just like their abusive parents, or they can be so against it because they had to deal with it. It really just depends on what kind of person they are.